Decadent, rich, and sinfully good. The last dessert I made for my crazy chocolate craving this past weekend was this sour cream chocolate cake. I made this once a while ago and completely fell in love with it. I don't know why it has taken me so long to make again. This cake is my perfect chocolate cake recipe. It has such a deep, rich chocolate taste. It's dense without being too dense. It's moist and not at all dry.

Eat it plain, eat it with ice cream, eat it with fresh whipped cream. It's definitely an indulgence, but a wonderful one.

Last time I made this cake, I made it in a bundt pan that I didn't love. You can read my previous post here. This time I chose my heritage bundt pan to showcase the cake in all its glory.

I sprinkled the cake with powder sugar, but it actually kept absorbing the sugar, even though it was the next day and the cake had already cooled. It wasn't until about the third time I applied it that the powder sugar actually stayed. This cake is also a bit heavy, so try not to put it into too many plates, as it tends to leave parts of its bottom on those plates.

Here's a summary of the other chocolate recipes I baked this week to satisfy my chocolate cravings:

2. Combine cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder (if using) in
medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth.
Cool to room temperature; then whisk in sour cream. Whisk flour, salt,
and baking soda in second bowl to combine.

3. In standing mixer
fitted with flat beater, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high
speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium
and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition
and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 2 additions.

Reduce to medium-low speed; add about one
third of flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix
until just incorporated, about 20 seconds. Scrape bowl and repeat using
half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture;
add remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 10
seconds. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly
combined, about 30 seconds.

Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan, being
careful not to pour batter on sides of pan. Bake until wooden skewer
inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45 to 50
minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined
wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. Dust with
confectioners' sugar, transfer to serving platter, and cut into wedges.

Yes, the cake absorbed the sugar even though it had completely cooled. I baked it the night before and put sugar on it the next afternoon. It didn’t seem to affect the taste though. I didn’t think it tasted like it had absorbed a bunch of extra sugar.

Hey, Kirbie!
I found this recipe in your original version and have been holding onto it for about a month. I made it last night and have to say that this is a GREAT moist chocolaty cake that I have now added to my growing library of decadent chocolate recipes. I did switch the sour cream with ricotta (using what I had on hand) and used instant coffee powder instead of espresso powder. Will use REAL espresso powder next time or omit. Also drizzled a chocolate ganache for that “over-kill” effect. “WOW”

Kirbie replied: — November 7th, 2010 @ 10:12 am

So glad you liked it! Interesting to know that ricotta cheese works as well.

Wow, the shape of this cake is crazy! So futuristic!! You should consider entering this cake into Recipe4Living’s 5th Birthday Recipe Contest! The site is turning 5 years old, and we’re giving away a Scharffen Berger gift basket to the top birthday cake that’s submitted!